VulnerabilityPublished 10 Jun 2026

CVE-2026-45160: espressif esp-idf · Out-of-bounds Read

Affects espressif esp-idfSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.5 Medium · fixed in 5.2.8 : update espressif esp-idf when convenient.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.5Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 15% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 5.2.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector: Adjacent
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Adjacent: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack, but the attack is limited at the protocol level to a logically adjacent topology. This can mean an attack must be launched from the same shared physical (e.g., Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11) or logical (e.g., local IP subnet) network, or from within a secure or otherwise limited administrative domain (e.g., MPLS, secure VPN to an administrative network zone).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 10 Jun 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
espressifesp-idf	Affected 5.2.7 – 6.0.1 5 affected builds	Fixed in–
GitHubespressif/esp-idf`pkg:github/espressif/esp-idf`Other threats	Affected 5.2.7 – 6.0.1 5 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A fix is available in ESP-IDF versions 5.2.8, 5.3.6, 5.4.5, 5.5.5, and 6.0.2. Users should upgrade to these or later versions to remediate the vulnerability. No vendor advisory content contradicts this; therefore, upgrading is the recommended mitigation.

Description

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. In versions 5.2.7, 5.3.5, 5.4.4, 5.5.4, and 6.0.1, an out-of-bounds read flaw exists in the DHCP server option parser (parse_options() in components/lwip/apps/dhcpserver/dhcpserver.c) shipped with ESP-IDF's lwIP component. The parser walks the BOOTP/DHCP options field without validating that each option's length byte and declared payload length stay within the received packet buffer. A crafted DHCP request can cause the parser to read past the end of the options buffer into adjacent heap memory. The issue affects the DHCP server used by ESP-IDF's SoftAP and any configuration where the device runs as a DHCP server on a local network. This issue has been patched in versions 5.2.8, 5.3.6, 5.4.5, 5.5.5, and 6.0.2.

Impact

The vulnerability allows an attacker to cause an out-of-bounds read in heap memory by sending a specially crafted DHCP request to a device running an affected ESP-IDF version as a DHCP server. While the CVSS score indicates no confidentiality or integrity impact, it results in a high impact on availability (denial of service). There are no known exploits in the wild.

Summary

CVE-2026-45160 describes an out-of-bounds read vulnerability (CWE-125) in the DHCP server option parser (parse_options function) within the lwIP component of Espressif's ESP-IDF framework. In affected versions 5.2.7, 5.3.5, 5.4.4, 5.5.4, and 6.0.1, the parser processes DHCP options without verifying that the length fields remain within the packet buffer, allowing crafted DHCP requests to cause reads past the buffer into adjacent heap memory. This affects devices running ESP-IDF as DHCP servers, including SoftAP mode. The issue is resolved in versions 5.2.8, 5.3.6, 5.4.5, 5.5.5, and 6.0.2.

CWE-125Out-of-bounds Read (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessCWE Top 25 (2025): #8
The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Use a language that provides appropriate memory abstractions.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Overread Buffers (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 17 Jun 2026, 08:55 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-125

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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